Nepal

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The number of individual languages listed for Nepal is 122. All are living languages. Of these, 109 are indigenous and 13 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 8 are institutional, 18 are developing, 28 are vigorous, 58 are in trouble, and 10 are dying.

The government of Nepal officially recognizes 59 indigenous nationalities, or ‘Adibasi Janajatis’ as they are called in Nepali. They are enumerated in the 2002 legislation that created the National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Act 20, Section 2a. Furthermore, the Interim Constitution of 2007 states in Article 5 that all languages spoken as mother tongues in Nepal are considered national languages.

Language Counts

The number of individual languages listed for Nepal is 122. All are living languages. Of these, 109 are indigenous and 13 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 8 are institutional, 18 are developing, 28 are vigorous, 58 are in trouble, and 10 are dying.